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However, I don't really know what's entailed. I was hoping somebody here might be able to advise as to what's involved - i.e. do they go out and manually fill in forms and then return quotes or do they work on some sort of feed etc.?

It would be useful to know so I can start to put my plans in place and put the feelers out for a freelancer to get started.

Some insurers have offers that are not available via the comparison websites. There are so many for the UK (at least half a dozen), you'll need to consider if it is worth it. I think you might need a fairly powerful server for what your planning.

Getting a site build to do this is probably the "easy" bit. Getting the major insurers on board might be the biggest hurdle because all the big comparison sites have massive advertsing budgets to lure the insurers.

Presumably each insurer has an API and the results are collated, compared and then displayed on your site.

Sounds like a massive undertaking. I'm guessing that the companies above spent a small fortune developing their own comparison sites...

I'm trying to work out whether these API's are publically available or whether I would have to apply to each insurer. It being a large undertaking doesn't dissuade me, nor does significant financial investment for I have created what I believe to be a solid business plan - with the notable exception of the key technical elements.

Originally Posted by SpacePhoenix

Some insurers have offers that are not available via the comparison websites. There are so many for the UK (at least half a dozen), you'll need to consider if it is worth it. I think you might need a fairly powerful server for what your planning.

I am well aware of the competition in the UK, however I am also well aware of their significant flaws which I have researched and documented in my aforementioned business plan.

Originally Posted by bluedreamer

Getting a site build to do this is probably the "easy" bit. Getting the major insurers on board might be the biggest hurdle because all the big comparison sites have massive advertsing budgets to lure the insurers.

This is the biggest question for me; do I actually approach each insurer one by one? I felt that provided I could get the technicals in place that I could arrange payment through a regular affiliate account. This may not be the case of course.